"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

“Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining,” Colonel Fletcher says in The Outlaw Josey Wales. For the benefit of those readers not fluent in Redneck, permit me to translate: “Don’t screw me over and pretend like you’re not screwing me over.”

Washington, D.C., is a town crawling with thousands of selfish, cowardly, dishonest, backstabbing piss-ants and — reflecting on my decision in hindsight — I often wish I’d never left Georgia in 1997. Where I come from, a man who does good work is respected for his abilities. In D.C., the only abilities that matters are skillful deceit and treachery.

When you’re in a fight — and I’ve survived a few — you find out pretty quick who your friends are, because they will rush in to defend you and won’t stop punching until the fight is over.

Every man is custodian of his own honor. If an honest man says he has been injured, who will tell him that he is mistaken? Nothing infuriates me more than when someone directly insults me, and then pretends that I am wrong to take notice of their insult.

“Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining.”

Being a peaceful man by nature, there are many insults I choose to ignore, but when I deign to take notice of an insult, I don’t expect my friends to question my judgment. If I am wrong — if the person who dissed me is not a lowdown worthless polecat — time will tell, and the responsibility for the dispute is mine alone. Selah.

“Honor culture” is not something you need an anthropology class to learn if you’re from the South. The first warning you’ll get if you insult a man — or his girlfriend — is likely to be a punch in the nose, and it’s rather difficult to protest that you intended no offense while the man is kicking you in the head. (Being a natural-born smart-ass, I share this useful wisdom learned from direct experience.) The reasons for this redneck tendency to fight over perceived insults are deeply rooted in culture, and often lamented by critics of the South, but the alternative to an “honor culture” is the kind of dishonorable backstabbing that typifies life among the cosmopolitan elite, such as the cowardly scum of Washington, D.C.

Last week, American Spectator contributor Bill Zeiser wrote a blog item with the unfortunate headline, “Michelle Malkin Is Wrong.” The topic of the dispute — Stephen Colbert’s tasteless use of anti-Asian slurs — is interesting, but ultimately irrelevant to the point I wish to make, for the sake of Mr. Zeiser and anyone else who may read this now or in the future: Michelle Malkin keeps score.
On your short list of “People You Never Want to Go to War Against,” be sure to include her name at or near the top, because Michelle Malkin will win that war.Bill Zeiser is a young fellow, and perhaps did not consider the foolish impropriety of his gesture when he decided to draw attention to himself with such a headline as “Michelle Malkin Is Wrong.” It would be most unfortunate if The American Spectator were to become collateral damage as a result.
The topic of the dispute is, as I say, ultimately irrelevant to the nature of the insult. One may disagree without being disrespectful, and if Mr. Zeiser does not think Michelle Malkin deserves respect, then (a) he needs to do some research, and (b) he needs to consult a psychiatrist, because he’s crazy. . . .

Of course, you overlook the FACT that communicable diseases are on the rise largely because we refuse to enforce immigration laws and allow infected people to flood into our cities.

If we enforced immigration laws and prevented infectious people to flood our cities, we would largely avoid these mini-epidemics of diseases we long ago banished from our populace.

Sure, Michelle Malkin makes a mistake now and again. We all do. But we ought to be concerned with the willful, intentional, obvious lying coming out of the mouths of progressives on an hourly basis. Once we have dealt with these lying weasels, then you can talk to me about a mistake a conservative may have made…

Kirby McCain

long and illustrious career respect their elders Stacy, are you suggesting Michelle is old? Freudian slip?

RS

You cannot be that stupid. But on the off-chance you are, I suggest taking a remedial course in literary criticism.

http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

PGlenn wrote: The left is like the four brothers who are constantly pounding on each other, but as soon as anyone else challenges them, they gang up against the outsiders.

You mean the Left are Irish?

ZZZZZZZZ

Heck, she’s a legend in her own mind!

Wombat_socho

It was linked this morning as part of the “In The Mailbox” post.

Finrod Felagund

Oop, my bad.

http://itsaboutliberty.com/index.php MNHawk

I like Makin 99% of the time, but do I really have to ditch on of my favorite movie characters of all time, Long Duk Dong? These movies worked precisely because of stereotypes, and blowing past them by the movies ends, such as the serious Asian student who turns into a party animal.

I’m clinging to my, “no more yankee my wankee, the Donger need food!” no matter how much it offends the easily offended. Don’t like it? For a turnaround, watch Ip Man 2, to see whites portrayed as the dumbest sounding caricatures imaginable. It’s also a great movie.

ajpwriter

House of Cards, Game of Thrones, six of one, half a dozen of the other.

The Red Wedding happened because the Young Wolf kept inconveniently defeating Lannister armies. So instead of making peace or contesting the matter on the battlefield, Tywin gave the go-ahead to massacre the Young Wolf at dinner (yes, it was Walder Frey’s butthurt, and Roose Bolton’s ambition, but they both asked for Tywin’s nod and got it).

They point of the Red Wedding is not “OMG our heroes died!” The point is that it was devious, underhanded, and a shameless violation of the rules the society held dear.

That point is entirely relevant to our current ruling class and the game of thrones they play.

Medieval Frank Underwood would have ordered the Red Wedding with a smile. Like Tywin, his rule is conquer or die.

Anamika

…it was devious, underhanded, and a shameless violation of the rules the society held dear.

That point is entirely relevant to our current ruling class and the game of thrones they play.

Exactly. Everyday can be a game of thrones (devious politics) in DC (Westeros), but to say everyday is Red Wedding in DC is over-exaggeration and missing the point.

Waiting for season four! After the Red WeddingEven in peacetime Westeros, everything is horrible.

ajpwriter

Every day someone is betrayed and the rules are not the rules. Frank Underwood uses press releases, Roose Bolton used a dagger. That distinction does not matter as much as one might think.

“Peacetime Westeros” I don’t know if the situation in AFFC and ADOD really qualifies as peace.

Anamika

I must say I’m kinda convinced with your arguments about the RW; its hard for me to see it isolated from the traumatic violence and as an “one off” event in ASOIAF.

Season 4 is based only on the second half of ASOS. “Peacetime” as in the war of five kings has come to an end with the Red Wedding (happens in middle chapters of 3rd book.)

Patrick Carroll

When I read ‘She Keeps Score’, my first thought was of Hillary! Clinton.